Our daughter is 5 months old and overnight this weekend outgrew her sleep sack. We put her in a sleeper, the sleep sack and then when it started to get really cold this winter, we started using a blanket by tucking it under the bottom and both sides of the mattress and pinning her in. She can't move, but her arms are on the outside so she's not snuggled like when she was swaddled, so sometimes it just makes her mad. But before we started using the blanket, I think she was waking herself up because she wasn't staying warm enough. But now that she can't fit in the sleep sack, I don't know if she'll be warm enough again just being in a sleeper and under the blanket. A friend suggested putting a onesie on under the sleeper to help, which is a good idea. The other problem is that she can't wear the sleepers with feet - she pulls her knees up and her feet get caught on the crotch and she can't straighten them out again. She can only wear ones that don't have feet that are a little too small for her - then she can't pull her feet up that high. So we put socks on her but then her calves are exposed and get cold. With the sleep sack and blanket, she's ok, but I don't know how she'll be without it.
The socks over the sleeper work great! Thanks everyone for your suggestions!!
I know when my daughter was small (born a few weeks early and only 5 lb 12 oz) we put the socks on over her sleeper with the feet, but on the outside. This helped keep her legs and feet in the right place within the sleeper and helped her stay warm too.
Hope this helps!
We had the same problem with my daughter's calves being uncovered when wearing regular pajamas (she is a very restless sleeper). Finally one night my husband was being funny and pulled her socks all the way up on the outside of her pajama pants. It worked! It looks really odd, but it helps the pant legs stay down a lot better than if the socks are under the pants.
J.,
I'm new to mamasource, and this is my first response, so bear with me as I learn more about this site.
Anyway, my daughter has also had a tough time sleeping, and I went through the same things you are (especially seemed that she needed swaddled FOREVER! One thing I did to continue swaddling her longer was to use a larger blanket, still swaddled around her arms and everything. She loved it even through about 6 months.
The main thing I would suggest if you're worried about your DD staying warm is to put a small space heater in her room. I found one at Wal-Mart for under $15 that I love. We even took it on vacation with us. Of course, it's up where she can't touch it or the cord (even though it has a heat-resistant casing), away from draperies and such so that it's safe.
I've also had the same problem with sleepers, but I have found they work better if they aren't too big at all. Also, you can try putting long "big kids" socks on over them, pulling the legs a little tighter. Or use a pair of adult winter socks with the feet cut off like leg warmers over the sleeper legs. Hopefully she can't kick those off and it will hold her legs in the sleeper legs.
Of course all this won't guarantee that you're DD will sleep well, but at least you'll be comforted that she's keeping warm.
HTH!
Hi J.. I understand about worrying that they are warm enough. We have an 11 month old who is all over the crib! Since she out grew the sleep sack, you may want to invest in some fleece sleepers. You can always layer a thin onesie under it for a little extra warmth. They make ones with elastic around the ankle to keep feet in them. We bought ours at target. Wearing one of these, and a thermostat kept between 68-71 your little pumpkin should be toasty warm. good luck!
I absolutely love sleep sacks!! But I found myself with the same problem of my son growing out of it. Then I found a website that has sleepsacks that go to size 24 months. They have "summer" sacks and "winter" sacks. I LOVE them! My 18 month old still sleeps in one. I always know he is covered up all night long, unlike a regular blanket. I originally bought one when he was around 3 months old because he kept un-swaddling himself and pulling the blankets over his face. It scared me, so I wanted something he couldn't do that with. These are so much better than what I have ever found in a store. Here's the site: babyinabag.com. The winter sack is truly all he needs to stay warm in the winter. Hope that helps!
To keep her calves covered maybe you could put on her a pair of your socks or your husbands socks. They would be long enough to cover very high. Hope this helps a little.
J.,
You sound like I did when my son had to go from being swaddled to just a blanket or something else. Cooper, my son who is 14 months, loves to be warm. So when he went from being swaddled to nothing we dressed him in longsleeved onesies, cotton pants, and socks. Now that it is cold we are doing something a little different. I took a doubled fleece blanket(the ones that you make and tie all around on the ends) and put it like the fitted sheet on his mattress. When it is tucked down on the sides it si safe and does not move. I hope that makes sense. Cooper has the fitted sheet and then the fleece on top of that. He also still has his bumper because he snuggles his back up to it.
Another thing you could get is a space heater that controls the temperature of the room. The one we have shuts itself off when the room gets to the temperature we want it and then when it drops below that it turns back on. The brand is Honeywell and it is ceramic from Walmart.
I hope that you are able to use some of this advice.
May God bless and keep you and your family.
T.
Get a biggier one. I know parents who have toddlers in them at night. I found big ones at Babies R Us as well as on the One Step Ahead website. It's www.onestepahead.com, and it has a lot of really neat stuff. Good luck!
J., when I read this, I thought I was reading something I asked a friend a year ago!! Have you looked into the larger sleep sacks? They do make them, even with feet...so they can stick their feet out! I always just put my daugther in a long sleeve onesie & a sleep sack until she was one. I found my xl halo sack at Toys R US, and they also always have them on ebay. I wish you luck! I was so worried when my daugther started sleeping with a blanket...I miss the sleep sack big time!
Okay. I think the solution to your problem can be easy or hard if you make it. I have a boy but i used to buy him two piece suits with socks slightly too big which you can use later. Also, since it is a girl, buy her some infant tights that you can put on under her two piece that way she has a sort of back up. I hope this helps. let me know!
My son grew out of his sleep sack around 6 months old too. I started putting him in the fleece sleepers with the feet and he would get tangled in those too. Then I found some that had the elastic around the ankles and they fit perfectly. I have found them at Target and Kohl's. He did not stay under a blanket and moved around alot, so when it got cold, I would just put a pair of socks and a onesie under the sleeper. He stayed very warm after that.
J.,
You can buy sleep sacks for older babies at Babies R Us. My daughther is 9 months old and we still use a sleep sack with her. I think she is in a Large, and I know that they go up to an x-large.
I hope this helps.
I wonder if you put her in two sleepers at once if that would help her feel warm enough? Basically, the second sleeper would take the place of the sleep sack.
Another suggestion is to wrap her in one of the swaddler blankets that velcro around the baby...leave her arms out and velcro it around her for extra warmth.
One thing I did for my two older girls when they were struggling with the footed pajamas, was to cut off the feet on a pair of socks and take the ankle part and put it on their ankles over the legs/feet of the pajamas. This helped too, when they started to crawl. That way their feet stayed in the feet of the pajamas.
Good luck!!!
Hi J.,
Have you thought about making your own sack? You can buy fleece and just give a few stitches.....
I used to put long underware under the blanket sleepers, you can also cut the feet on them and put long socks or even confy soft sleepers on her feet to sleep.
You can also wrap her with several blankets, the knitted ones works great since they are more confy and let them move but still feel wrap and secure and warm.
Good luck,
Mariana Abadie
www.MyKidsFirst.com
Hey J.--Hope you are having luck keeping your daughter warm during the night :) I noticed you would love to stay at home, I help moms and others do just that....www.2abetterlife.com and I would love to help you too!
Have a great day!
Cindy
You can buy bigger sleep sacks and swadling blankets to use as she grows. I've seen them at Target and Babies R Us.
I used a grobag for my daughter and she used to giggle when I put her in. I think because it became a routine and she associated it with sleeping. It made it a positive experience for her. They come in sizes for toddlers as well. Zippers go from the bottom up so they can't unzip themselves.
I'm sure they carry them in US stores too.
Grobags do make bags even for adults, but they are expensive, mainly because you have to order them from the UK or Canada. I recommend them (my son is two and loves his; hates to sleep without it, but it was $80. That was a lot for us. It was an investment! At 5 months, though, Halo still makes sleep sacks that will fit. You can buy them at Babies-R-Us. Honestly, if the baby is in a sleeper and a sleep sack, a blanket is overkill unless it is 50 degrees in her room. It's probably something else waking her, in that case.
I would cut the feet out of the sleepers and put socks on her to keep her feet warm. My daughter always wanted her head covered when she slept. She's now 13 and still covers her head at night.
We co-sleep, so no one is ever cold. If they do get cold, they cuddle up to mama or daddy. :)
Hi
2 of my grandbabies don't like covers. 1 is more hot natured and her mom puts her in just a fleece snugglie warm footed pj's. The other one is more cold natured. Her mom put good fitting socks on her, a long sleeve onesie then her thick fleece snugglie warm footed pj's on her. When visiting people whos house is colder she adds a pair of long johns or the knit fitted pants. So there are ways around the problem of not liking covers. Each of these girls sleep with a small blanket that they can use. They are 2. But have always slept this way. The youngest one sleeps under covers and loves the soft blankets she will pull them up to her neck. So what ever your little one likes you can find a way to allow them to sleep the way they like. Have fun with them! One of my daughter-in-laws breast fed for almost 2 yrs. she let her daughter ween herself and she did. The other breastfed for 5 months then bottle fed, her oldest is 2 and she is still on the bottle. So age in weening is up to the nature of the child. She will tell you when it's time. My oldest weened at 15 months my youngest threw his bottle out of the bed at 9 months. Then we went to a cup. You can see the vairous ages!
Have you looked for a larger sleep sack? Toys R Us used to sell them in larger sizes. You might try that.
Good luck.
C.
Well, I don't know if this will help, but I am a 25 yr old mom of 4, a 4 yr old, almost 3 yr old, and 5 mo old twins. My twins are getting VERY wormy, we have a cold house too and I have put a blanket on them, but recently, they've been moving so much and I checked on them once when they each had the blanket over their head, it freaked me out, so no more blankets, tucking them in didn't work either! So, they sleep in the onsees with feet, and they're arms and legs get stuck where they shouldn't be too, but it keeps them warm. An idea I had was to use the ones without feet and put them in those warm little tights (not pantihose), they stay in place and will keep their legs and feet nice and toasty. Let me know how it worked for you! My husband may not like our little man in those, but we'll see!!!:)
